Privacy Policy

What we collect

Pool location

The app needs a point on the map to watch. You can let the app read your device location to place that point, or set it yourself by typing an address or a pair of coordinates. That coordinate is sent to our servers so we can work out which lightning is near it, and it is stored on your device so the app remembers your pool between launches. No lightning provider ever receives it. We read NOAA's public satellite lightning data in bulk and do that matching on our own servers, so your pool's location is never sent on to a lightning source.

Three other companies see the coordinate, or the text you use to find it, and none of them is a lightning source. The app sends the coordinate to our weather provider, which is what draws the sky behind your pool and the temperature on the map. The map itself is Apple's, so drawing the area around your pin sends that area to Apple. If you find your pool by typing an address, the app sends what you type to our address search provider as you type it; nothing goes there when you use your device location or type coordinates instead. All three are listed under Service providers below.

We request location access only while you are using the app. We do not collect continuous background location, and we do not build a history of where you have been. The pools you save (their name, address, coordinates, and settings) are stored with your account so they back up, follow you to a new phone, and can be shared with people you invite.

Your account

The app requires an account. You can sign in with Apple, with Google, or, for accounts that have one provisioned, with an email address and password. We store the email address and sign-in identifier your chosen method provides, and, only if you add them, optional profile details (name, birthday, gender, phone number, and household size, which is a bracket such as "4" or "6 or more", never a list of who lives with you). If you share a pool or join one, we store that membership. If you allow notifications, we store your device's push token so alerts can reach you. If you turn on email alerts for a pool, our alert service holds your account email address and sends those alerts to it through our email delivery provider. You can delete your account inside the app, which permanently removes the account and everything stored under it.

The camera

The app asks for the camera in one place: scanning the QR code on a pool invite. The scanner reads the code on your device and looks at nothing else. No photo or video is recorded, none is sent to us, and the camera is not used anywhere else in the app. You can decline the permission and type the invite code instead, which ends up in the same place.

Diagnostic information

We may collect crash reports and basic technical diagnostics (device model, operating system version, app version, error details) to find and fix problems. If you email us about an issue, we keep what you send until the issue is resolved.

What we do not collect

• No contacts, photos, microphone, or health data.
• No background location history.
• No payment details. Purchases run through Apple, and we never see your card.
• No password for most accounts. Sign-in runs through Apple or Google. Email-and-password sign-in exists only for accounts provisioned with one, and the password is handled by our sign-in service, never stored by us in plain text.

Advertising

The free version of the app shows ads. We use contextual advertising, which means ads are chosen without tracking you across other companies' apps and websites. Because of that, the app does not ask for App Tracking Transparency permission.

Ads appear only inside the app, and they never cover the current pool status. Removing ads is included with a Pro subscription. Our advertising provider is Google AdMob, configured to serve non-personalized ads.

Purchases

In-app purchases and subscriptions are processed by Apple through the App Store. Apple tells us that a purchase happened so the app can unlock the right features. Apple does not give us your payment information. Apple's own privacy policy governs that transaction, and subscriptions are managed in your Apple account settings.

Notifications

If you allow notifications, we use them to tell you when the pool state changes, for example when lightning is detected in your radius or when the all clear is reached. We do not use notifications for marketing. You can turn them off in iOS Settings at any time, though the app is much less useful without them.

Service providers

We share the minimum necessary with companies that help us run the service:

• Hosting and infrastructure providers that operate our servers, our database, and this website. Your account, your saved pools, and their coordinates are stored there.
• A weather provider, Open-Meteo, which receives your pool's coordinate each time the app refreshes the weather for that pool, about every fifteen minutes while you have the pool open. It gets the coordinate and nothing else: no account, no name, no device identifier.
• An address search provider, the public Photon service run by Komoot, which receives the text you type while you are searching for a pool address. It gets that text and nothing else.
• Apple, which draws the map under your pool pin and so receives the map area around it, handles Sign in with Apple when you use it, carries push notifications to your phone, and processes purchases.
• Google, which handles Google sign-in when you choose it.
• A push notification service, Expo, which receives your device's push token and the text of an alert so it can hand that alert to Apple for delivery.
• An email delivery provider, which receives your email address and the alert content when you turn on email alerts.
• An advertising provider, Google AdMob, for the free tier, on a contextual basis as described above.

Our lightning source is deliberately not on that list. We read NOAA's public satellite lightning data as whole files covering the Americas and decide what is near your pool on our own servers, so no lightning provider ever receives your pool's coordinate, your radius, or anything else about you.

We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

How long we keep things

Lightning queries are short-lived, and we do not build long-term profiles from them. Diagnostic data is kept only as long as it is useful for fixing problems. Your pools and profile details stay backed up to your account until you remove them or delete the account; deleting the app alone leaves the account copy in place so your pools return when you sign back in.

Children

ClearToSwim is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. Adults supervising a pool are the intended users. If you believe a child has provided us information, email privacy@cleartoswim.com and we will delete it.

Your choices and rights

• Location: deny or revoke it in iOS Settings. You can still set your pool location manually.
• Notifications: turn them off in iOS Settings.
• On this device: deleting the app removes the data stored on your device. Your account copy stays until you delete the account (in the app under Account) so your pools return when you sign back in.
• Requests: depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete personal information we hold. Email privacy@cleartoswim.com and we will honor applicable requests.

This website

cleartoswim.com is a static site. It sets no advertising cookies and runs no cross-site tracking scripts. Our hosting provider processes standard server request logs for security and reliability. Web fonts are served from this site itself, so loading a page sends nothing to a font CDN or any other third party.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the effective date above, and for material changes we will make reasonable effort to say so in the app or on this site.

Contact

Borah Logistics LLC, Dothan, Alabama, United States
privacy@cleartoswim.com

ClearToSwim is an informational aid, not a safety guarantee. Always follow official warnings. If you see lightning or hear thunder, get out of the water and take shelter in a substantial building or a hard-topped vehicle. Wait until 30 minutes after the last thunder before returning to the water.